by WellSync
4 min read
Your customers already visit you for groceries, household essentials, and everyday purchases. Some also fill prescriptions at your pharmacy. Others may shop with you every week without ever using it.
Telehealth gives retailers a way to connect those relationships. Customers can access a licensed provider online and, when appropriate, choose to fill a prescription at the retailer’s pharmacy.
WellSync helps retailers launch that service by bringing together patient technology, provider access, and prescription routing. The retailer brings its brand, customer relationships, and existing pharmacy locations.
Why Pharmacy Visits Matter Beyond the Prescription
Pharmacy visits can generate purchases throughout the store.
In an August 2024 analysis, Inmar reported that 54% of surveyed healthcare consumers made additional purchases while visiting the pharmacy. Of those who made additional purchases, 55% spent more than $25, and almost a quarter spent more than $50. Its survey included 1,000 healthcare consumers. Inmar research
These findings describe existing shopping behavior. They don't predict the sales results of a telehealth rollout, but they show why a pharmacy’s value can extend beyond prescriptions.
Local access also matters to customers. YouGov reported in September 2024 that 66% of surveyed U.S. adults preferred purchasing medicines in person at pharmacies. That finding covers medicines generally, rather than prescriptions alone. YouGov research
For retailers, the opportunity is to connect convenient online care with a pharmacy customers can visit while handling their everyday shopping.
How Retail Telehealth Connects Customers With Your Pharmacy
Telehealth for retail pharmacies connects customers with licensed healthcare providers remotely. When treatment includes a prescription, the patient can choose a pharmacy for fulfillment, including the retailer’s existing location.
The process can begin online or in-store.
Introduce Care Where Customers Already Find You
Retailers can introduce virtual care through their website, customer communications, and in-store signage. A shopper can discover the service during a store visit or access it from home.
This gives existing customers a new reason to consider the retailer’s pharmacy, even if they currently fill prescriptions elsewhere.
Connect Customers With a Licensed Provider
Customers complete the required intake and receive a provider evaluation through the virtual care service. The provider determines whether treatment is appropriate and whether a prescription is needed.
For acute care, the system routes prescriptions to a retail pharmacy. Customers who select the retailer’s pharmacy can pick up their medication there.
Connect Prescription Pickup With Everyday Shopping
A customer who starts a consultation at home may choose to collect an approved prescription during their next shopping trip. Someone who normally visits only the pharmacy may also purchase groceries, personal care products, or household essentials.
Customers gain the convenience of combining errands. Retailers gain an opportunity to meet more of their needs in a single visit.
How WellSync Helps Retailers Launch Virtual Care
A retailer may already have the pharmacy, locations, and customer relationships. WellSync provides the technology and services needed to add virtual care access.
Through CareHub, WellSync’s virtual care platform, retailers can bring together:
- Brand-customized technology: Program access, patient intake, and patient portal functionality.
- Licensed provider access: Clinical evaluation and prescribing when appropriate.
- Prescription routing: A connection between the virtual consultation and the patient’s selected retail pharmacy.
Retailers can use a ready-to-launch solution or build on top of WellSync’s technology. This lets them add virtual care without building the platform or assembling the provider network themselves.
The service can support customers across multiple locations while also reaching those who begin their visit online. It does not require a physical clinic inside each store.
Retail Telehealth in Practice: Publix
Publix introduced virtual care powered by WellSync in June 2024. Its announcement described a service in which customers complete an online health questionnaire for review by a licensed provider. When prescriptions are issued, customers can choose to fill them at Publix Pharmacy. Publix announcement
The program illustrates how a retailer can connect virtual care with its existing pharmacy footprint.
Measure Pharmacy Growth and Store Sales Together
A retail telehealth program should be evaluated beyond the number of consultations completed.
Useful measures include:
- New pharmacy customers: How many program participants fill a prescription at the retailer’s pharmacy for the first time?
- Completed prescription fills: How many prescriptions routed to participating locations are filled and collected?
- Additional retail purchases: How often does prescription pickup coincide with other purchases, and what is their value?
- Repeat visits: Do participating customers return to the pharmacy and store?
Compare results with a baseline and, where practical, similar locations without the program. This helps distinguish additional business from shopping or pharmacy activity that would have happened anyway.
Bring Virtual Care to Your Retail Pharmacy
Your customers already know your stores. WellSync can help you give them access to care that connects with your pharmacy services.
Talk with our team about launching virtual care for your online and in-store customers.
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